Tuesday, February 28, 2017

I'm so excited each month to see what fresh new mixed media product(s) Melinda has included in the kit and add ons. The February Mixed Media/Creativity Add On includes Prima Soft Oil Pastels. I've not worked with oil pastels before, so enjoyed spending some time experimenting with several types of paper and inks to see what would work best to color the 49 and Market Gabi's Hibiscus flowers that I fussy cut for the focal flowers on a set of mixed media thank you cards.

I created a technique video sharing how I used these Prima Soft Oil Pastels.Enjoy!

Monday, February 27, 2017

Hi! I'm sharing my first layout for Scraps of Darkness. I created this debut project with the February Our Story Kit and it is absolutely gorgeous! There are so many beautiful floral papers and sparkly accents to work with.

I've been holding on to this photo of my youngest niece for some time and was so happy to see how well it coordinated with this kit. I built up layers of journaling notecards, fussy cut papers, book pages, and product packaging (it matches this kit perfectly!) under my photos. I topped the photos with a mix of flowers from the Main Kit, Element Add-On, and Floral Add-On. I colored the small chipboard heart with embossing powder from the Creativity Add-On. The title for this page, "Sweet Life" is from the BoBunny Copper Accents Foil Transfers Rub-Ons, which I added under the photos.

I used the stencil from the Elements Add-On with the Dina Wakley Media Blushing Heavy Body Acrylic Paint from the Creativity Add-On to add a colorful print to the background of my layout. I then added stamping with the fun Ruby Rock-It Bella! Champagne Bubbles stamp and the Prima Chocolat Dye Ink from the Color Add-On. Once that was dry, I added a light layer of whipped spackle over a text stencil for texture and dimension. Lastly, I sprayed the Lindy's Stamp Gang Cocoa Bean Copper Starburst Mist for a metallic accent. The shimmer of this mist is fantastic!

I altered the finish of the Papermania Ever After Wedding Heart Charm for this page from silver to gold with a layer of clear gesso and then gold paint.

This is the second layout I created February Our Story Kit from Scraps of Darkness. There are a lot of repetitive elements in this kit that I love. In addition to the beautiful flowers there are also a lot of circles. I played up both of those elements on this page.

I had this adorable photo of my niece peeking over the edge of a table top that I just love for its playfulness. I decided to cut away the distracting background of the photo to really let her shine. I cut the floral collage sections from the top and bottom of the Prima Love Clippings - Little Love Clippings patterned paper and sandwiched my photo between them.

I built up more layers under the photo from notcards, journaling cards, and fussy cuts from the Main Kit and Creativity Add-On. The Floral Add-On has a wonderful mix of colorful, textured, and glittered blooms that were so fun to mix and match on this page.

I traced two large circles onto the base of this page with the Festive Berries Distress Marker from the Elements Add-On. To add more circles to this page I stamped over the background with the Ruby Rock-It Bella! Champagne
Bubbles stamp from the Main Kit using the Prima Chocolat Dye Ink from the
Color Add-On. I also added circles from the BoBunny Copper Accents Foil Transfers Rub-Ons included in the Elements Add-On. This shimmer to this foil is amazing!

Lastly, I added a title for this page, "Loving Life," also from the BoBunny Copper Accents Foil Transfers Rub-Ons.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Hi! I'm sharing a set of artist trading cards I created for Scraps of Darkness using the February "Our Story" Kit. My favorite element from the Creativity Add-On is the cork sheet. I used cork for the base of my cards and then added stamping, both with ink and a hot tool, foil rub-ons, Distress Marker coloring, and acrylic paint. This versatile material took all these mediums well and adds a really fun texture to my cards.

If you haven't tried incorporating cork into your artwork it is really fun to work with! I hope you enjoy the video tutorial I have prepared.

Friday, February 24, 2017

My dear friends, Kathy here!!! I truly hope this week has been a good one. We have had several minor snowfalls, just enough to make it wonderful! Today I am sharing my last layout using the Scraps of Darkness (SOD) January kit "Botanique".

This layout features Cameron, my 2nd grandson, with his bag of raspberries that he picked in his hand. He is standing at the front door of his house with all of his Momma's plants surrounding him. So let's get started!!

I started with 3 layout mats, the top is from Simple Stories. I gessoed where I wanted the picture and embellishments. Then I used modeling paste through a stencil to create some texture. I applied joint tape in various places for more texture. I used a combination of inks and mists to color the background (silver grey, yellow, green). I applied black splatters.

Next I created the photo mats and used various papers from the Graphic 45 collection. I ripped some cardboard to use in the middle. I created a circle out of green wrapped wire to apply around the photo. I fussy cut various ferns to frame the photo and cascade along the left side. I applied some bronze micro beads to simulate spores on the plants.

At the bottom of the photo I cut some tags and used Graphic 45 die cuts and chipboard to create a collage. I also used the yellow daisy from the Main Kit. I fussy cut butterflies from various papers in the kit. I tucked in some little blue flowers from a previous Scraps Of Darkness kit.

I used a small chain circle chipboard from my stash and heat embossed some green glitter embossing powder from a previous Scraps Of Darkness kit.

The title chipboard is from my stash. I paint it black with acrylic paint from another SOD kit.

This was an easy layout, but took a lot of time to create the little details.

Would you believe that me and the Hubby 35 years ago? Gosh we look young.

I used a GORGEOUS Blue Fern Studio paper from the Main Kit for my background. On the other side are 4 printed mat images, which I used to mat my photo. I started with a brown cardstock for the main mat and added some lace from my stash and inserted pearls from my stash.

I added more lace and pearls along the sides of the photo, from a previous Scraps Of Darkness kit. I waited to add the lace on the bottom under the flowers until I had the placement of the flowers the way I wanted them.

The rest was so easy. At the bottom of the photo I went wild with the luscious Market 49 salmon and gold flowers included in the Main Kit and Floral Add On. I tucked in some flowers from previous kits. Then I adhered the yummy lace at the bottom of the flower cluster.

At the top of the photo I created another flower cluster using more Market 49 flowers and other goodies from my stash. I tucked in the gold flourishes (also from my stash).

Usually you would add the color to the background paper first, but I waited till the end so that I could get it just right. I used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink "Tea Dye". It sure came out gold. And, last I added little sentiments and hearts tucked into the bottom of the photo.